Top 5 best investment luxury watches

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Planning on spending a lot of money on a designer watch for something other than the instant gratification of owning a beautiful fashion accessory? You’ll want to read this first!

Like luxury cars, the resale value of fine, luxury watches differs for each make and model. In the collateral lending (pawn) world, we see many owners of expensive watches disappointed that their timepiece is not the investment they believed it to be.

The truth is that not all luxury watches are a good investment. Some lose their value as soon as you leave the store, some retain their value, but the good ones exceed their value, over time. There are many factors that decide why one luxury watch is a timeless investment piece and another one is just a very expensive fashion bauble that, though very important to you, is no longer worth what you paid for it. If you’d like your watch to be as valuable when it’s time to sell it as when you bought it, you need to consider the following: the make and model of a watch, the popularity of a watch, and the demand in the market for certain brand names and models.

By the way, contrary to popular belief, the best way to buy a luxury watch is not buying a new one. When you buy a previously-owned luxury watch from a reputable second-hand store (or pawn shop) versus a brand-new one at a retail store, you minimize your cost and therefore maximize your investment. What you’ll get is a win-win deal — a fine watch that keeps its value but you don’t shell out the big bucks for it.

So which luxury watches give you the best bang for your buck? In decreasing order, here are the best investments for your hard-earned money.

The top 5 best investment luxury watches

Patek Philippe

This Swiss watch is the masterpiece, the jewel in the collection of any knowledgeable collector. A Patek Philippe watch will cost the most but you can be assured that it will definitely stay as valuable as when you bought it, if not more. Certain rare models can cost as much as a million dollars, but there are plenty in the $5,000 to $10,000 range that can be a great investment to pass on to your children, loan against, or sell quickly, in a pinch.

Rolex

Most known and popular watch in the world, this Swiss watch’s name is synonymous with success. A Rolex watch will be the easiest one to loan against or sell, because it is so well-known and always in demand.

Audemars Piguet

Another Swiss watch that is very well-known in the luxury market, an Audermars Piguet timepiece can cost a few thousand up to tens of thousands of dollars. Like the Rolex watches, most models of Audemars Piguet are very good resale pieces.

Cartier

This French designer is renowned for its fashion icon status but also its classic watches for men and women. Unlike other fashion designer watches, the Cartier watches are known for keeping their purchase value. Be aware that the most recent models are usually in bigger demand than the previous decades’, or sometimes discontinued models, which don’t depreciate as well.

Vacheron Constantin

This is another collector’s favorite though not quite as known by the general public as the previous brand-names. This Swiss watchmaker’s pieces start at around $3,000 for regular models, but some rare Vacheron Constantine watches can be sold for tens of thousands of dollars to the right connoisseur.

When you want your fine watches to keep their purchase value through time, these are the names to keep in mind!